Find Your Best Hotel Rewards

While each program’s details vary, the differences aren’t huge. Choose one based on your travel style and not the other way around, says Kelsey Blodget, editorial director of pro hotel review site Oyster.

Value Seeker? Sure, you like to indulge at luxe resorts—but you’re also happy to kick back with HBO in a low-key room. Marriott has a lot of upscale properties, but it also has a high percentage of cheaper “category 1” hotels—which require fewer points to score free stays, Blodget says. (IHG also runs the gamut, from all-biz Holiday Inn Express to swanky InterCon.)

Power PointCan’t choose? It doesn’t hurt to sign up for every free program to score perks—and the potential to exchange points for miles, as long as the program is partnered with your fave airline.